Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-07-01

that Mrs. Winter might be still alive.
After moments hesitation I concluded
to wait until morning. I crept into bed,
and while irving to solve the strange mys-
terry OF the cries, the pistol shot, ana tne
heavy fall on the floor above, l fell into
deep sleep.
sIt was late in the morning when
awoke While dressing myself l fixed
upon the course which thought it best to
pursue. / was about to leave the room
when heard some one burst in the door
of the room above mine. An instant later
loud shrieks rang through the house.
hurried up the stairs and entered the
room. On the floor 1 saw the dead body
of Mrs. Winter. There was a wound in
the breast from which had poured
stream of blood that now lay in pool
near the body The expression. on the
dead woman's face was peaceful one
The fingers of her right hand were closed
over the butt of revolver. felt sure
that the murderer had placed her fingers
there in order to make it appear that the
poor woman had committed suicide. AS
this thought struck me saw Leclalr en-
ter the ROOM His face was very pale,
but he looked at the corpse without finch
ing and said:
J
She has had much trouble. 1t was more
than she could bear. 1t destroyed her
reason and drove her to suicide. She has
been very kind to my wife
'"The landlady with police officer and
several other persons now entered the
ROOM The officer examined the corpse
and then asked if any one present knew
anything about the suicide beyond the
fact that the body had been found in its
present condition. l was about to de-
nounce Leclair as the murderer of Mrs.
Winter when, to my surprise, he stepped
in front of me and said to the officer:
"I can explain the tragedy. My name
is Leclair-Charles Leclair'--
"sYour name is Charlie, thought 1,
and the dead woman called on Charlie to
spare her. That is the only link wanting
in the chain of evidence
''sI have known Mrs. Winter for some
little time. She was married to a man
who i'll treated her, and finally deserted
her, taking with him their only child, to
which she was deeply attached. Since
then the poor woman has exhausted all
of her slender means in striving to regain
the child. Last evening Mrs. Winter
learned of the death of her child. Her
grief was intense, but she was calm when
I last saw her. The blow undoubtedly
unhinged her mind, and drove her to the
fatal act
'F'Do you know when she fred the
shot?' asked the officer.
&C 1T must have been about 3 O'Clock
this morning, replied Leclair. My wife
was very i'll last night-in fact, she was
temporarily insane, a condition to which
she is subject occasionally At such times
she strives to throw herself from the win
dow, and when I drag her out, of danger
she imagines that am about to kill her.
Mrs Winter was very fond of my wife,
over whom she had a strong influence.
Mrs. Winter has several times succeeded
in calming my wife during her unfor-
tunate spells At about o'clock this
morning my wife had one of her bad
spells. pulled her back from the win
dow lust in time to save her from jump
ing out. She struggled as usual in such
cases, and begged me not to murder her.
got her into a heavy chair, where [ tied
her. Just then 1 heard a sound which
might have been the explosion of a pistol,
but paid no attention to it at the time.
Although my wife had ceased to struggle,
l decided, in order to calm her thorough
", to call in the aid of Mrs. Winter. I
went up to her door and tried the knob,
which was the signal we had agreed was
to mean that my wife stood in need of her
services. She did not answer the move
ment of the door knob, so concluded
that she was sleeping soundly. 1 returned
to my room without making any further
attempt to awake her. I have no doubt
that she was already dead when I tried
the door,
't'What time did the fourth floor front
lodger return last night p asked, turning
to my landlady.
"'He didn't return at all, she said, snap
pishly, as if angry at my interruption.
He left this house three days ago.
II saw it all. At the close of my dream
I had heard the struggles and cries of poor
mad Mrs. Leclair in the room below mine,
and an instant later had heard the sound
of the pistol shot and the fall of Mrs. Win
ter's body on the floor above. 1 had made
the mistake of mingling the two tragic oc-
currences together. Instead of the fourth
floor front ledger going to his room had
heard Leclair on his way to Mrs. Winters
door, from which he returned after having
failed to arouse her.
''The coroner held his inquest, and the
jury returned a verdict in accordance with
the facts. Although I remained for some
time longer in the same room, never
again placed any confidence in the tales
which came to me through the old fash
toned fireplace. New York Times.